Chapter 15: First Contact

First Contact

 

Gregor was the most drunk he had ever been. Hours of drinking had worn on him, and now even he could tell his speech was slurring. His eyes were lidded, and Gregor could barely see, but still his attention was locked on Amar Ket.

 

Even after leaving the tavern, they had joined the flow of the celebrations together, and had made their way through the village. At one point she had asked Gregor why he wasn’t competing in any contest. He thought he managed not to come off as a braggart when Gregor said he wasn’t allowed because it would be unfair.

 

He wasn’t sure it worked, but Amar didn’t seem to care. She simply shrugged it off, and dragged him along to the next event, the boar chase. In the competition the boar would be shaved and coated in oil, then let loose in the village, and contestants would be forced to hold and lift the animal in the air for fifteen seconds.

 

Of course, the other competitors and the boar itself would be loath to let that happen, and the game had been known to last almost through the night. Both Gregor and Amar were standing towards the edge of town when suddenly a man with bright purple eyes appeared in front of them. On his shoulder, of all things, was a Rizzel, although this one was oddly colored.

 

“Are you Gregor?” The man asked, staring directly at him. Gregor was an honest drunk and so he was swift to answer.

 

“Yessir.”

 

“Good, you need to get ready, there are at least two crazy monsters that are about to attack the village. I’m hoping Jermiah can hold off the rest, but it wasn’t looking so good back there.”

 

“Jeremiah? The Forest caretender?” Amar cut in, stealing the strange man’s attention.

 

“That’s the one. I’m sorry, you are?”

 

“It’s common courtesy to introduce oneself first before asking it of another.”

 

This appeared to take the man aback, as he hesitated a second. Then he put on an easy going smile, and began to speak.

 

“Of course. I’m Logan Brewer, and I’m here to help.”

“Of course. I’m Logan Brewer, and I’m here to help.”

 

Logan had plastered on his barista smile, but he wasn’t sure if it conjured the right effect. He was sure that the way he continuously looked over his shoulder, monitoring the spiders in his soul sight, did not help. He wasn’t sure if crack existed here, but surely there were some crazy magical drugs out there.

 

As he looked back at Gregor to gauge his reaction, he found the man with his eyes closed, in a silent meditation. Logan was amazed once again by the uniqueness of Gregor’s soul, as it was diffused through his body in a great twisting haze. That very feature had been what allowed Logan to find his target so quickly, as it stood out compared to the others around them.

 

“Well then Logan Brewer, I’m Amar Ket. It's nice to meet you, and where are the monsters we are to fight?”

 

“Uhhh…” Amar gave Logan a look that spoke a thousand words. He responded by raising a hand, pointing towards the edge of town.

 

“They’re out there, closing in on the town. I’ll go keep them busy while you two get ready.”

 

With that, Logan flared the white lines representing teleportation routes, and got out of dodge. Although the woman with Gregor, Amar was startlingly beautiful, something about her made Logan think of Jeremiah, and those thoughts pushed him back to the battlefield. 

 

The old man had been as gracious a mentor as Logan could have expected in a completely different world. He deserved all of Logan’s efforts. Bracing his stomach, Logan made two more teleports and found himself back outside of the village, and in the path of the two horrifically grotesque spiders.

 

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“Anybody ever taught you two how to tango?”

 

Logan asked the twisted abominations as his faithful companion Remy appeared at his side, and his tentacles began weaving patterns in the air.

 

“Because it's time to dance, whether you like it or not.”

Logan cast Root and suddenly the prairie grass was his to control. The many stalks curled up around the spiders’ legs. Unfortunately, the spiders themselves had many legs, and though the ability stopped their momentum, both enemies maintained their balance.

 

However, the ability still managed to buy Logan and Remy some time. Neither of them were particularly effective at attacking, and the spiders almost seemed engineered to be able to always counter attack. Their second set of legs were always writhing right where an attack would be most effective, creating a nearly perfect guard. 

 

It didn’t help that all Logan had to attack with was a small belt knife, or his fists. He had received little to no training in the usage of either, unless you counted Logan’s high school self defense class. He certainly didn’t.

 

It appeared as though the spiders were of a similar mindset, as both ignored the Rizzel flanking down their left side, and tried to converge on Logan. Even though his stomach was already churned up like a barrel of butter, Logan forced his eyes to see the white lines once again, and teleported across his view.

 

As he stepped into the space 10 meters to his left, regrouping with Remy, the spiders once again turned and charged directly at Logan. Out of options, Logan resolved to just cast Root as much as he could to buy time. Logan just hoped that those two were quick about getting ready. 

 

He couldn’t imagine attempting to slash at one of these things without losing at least an arm. Logan had personally seen it easily piece Jeremiah’s stomach, and though he may be an old man, Jeremiah was still in outrageous shape. The mental image of a mandible going straight through Logan’s head was at the top of his mind.

 

So call him a coward, but Logan thought his plan had the best chance of success. When Gregor seemingly appeared, a spider instantly de-mandibled in front of him, Logan was convinced of his genius. 

As soon as Gregor came into battle, he realized it would be grueling. What should have been a blow that separated its thorax had missed, leaving him to try and hold momentum. A slash that was parried by a leg. The follow up thrust dodged with almost a prance. Gregor let out an audible sigh.

 

Suddenly it was the spiders turn to take the lead. Its compatriot had reached their scuffle and it was all Gregor could do to keep up with the pace they set. Sixteen legs with only two minds attacked him in unison, all working to manipulate the space Gregor had, and his ability to retaliate. Every thought was of defense.

 

When a giant glowing bear claw came down on the spiders, Gregor realized that defense might be his only job today. Amar had joined the fight, and it seemed her skills were of a more exotic variety than Gregor’s own. Another bear claw pounced out of her palm but the spiders suddenly gave space, and it only met air.

 

“Yeah, you better run!” The strange man, Logan, yelled at the retreating abominations. At least, that’s what Gregor assumed they were. After so many years of searching and hunting in the Forest, Gregor thought he knew all the naturally forming monsters, and had never seen these.

 

They were clearly spiders, with eight legs, but were shaped almost like a wolf, with a narrow and slender abdomen. If anything, they looked like common beasts, Wolf Spiders, which were rare but existed in the forest. Then there were the nightmarish twisted legs coming off of their backs. Each was a different size, and they all writhed, as if constantly in their dying throes, but already Gregor suspected they could still be controlled by the creatures.

 

And then there was the shade of their carapace. At first glance, it appeared black, but Gregor could tell it was distinctly purple on closer inspection. He didn’t know why that stood out to him, but it did.

 

Suddenly, the spiders deformed appendages stopped their tortured movement. Both foes crouched their back legs low, almost as if…

 

“Separate! They're about to fire!” Gregor shouted. Little did he know how right he was.

 

Huge globules of an orangish goop launched through the air at an arc towards them. Gregor turned and grabbed Amar in a fireman's carry, and hoped Logan followed his instructions. Gregor could have looked back, but his gaze was taken by the substance launched by the spiders.

 

As the goop had slowed down in the air, it had combusted, and now a curtain of flaming acid descended from its arc. All Gregor could do was stare, and pump his legs harder. 

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